WHFR's Jump Button: Kris Kross'll Make You Jump
Gallery
Something other than x-ray vision and a million dollars in your bank account are missing from your life. Think fast, what is it? Your answer should have been: “The opportunity to listen to Randy ‘Macho Man’ Savage interpret gangsta rap.” On the slim chance that this was not the first thing you thought of, try again, and then write a reminder to self stating that the only way to fill this gaping void is by lending your ears to The Jump Button on WHFR every Saturday from 8 p.m. to midnight.
Billed as “super dorky radio,” The Jump Button is a weekly segment that has been making a home for itself on the campus radio station since 2002. The program has shown a wide range of focus that runs the gamut of everything geeky, from video games sound tracks to 8-bit remixes of Top 40 songs, in addition to discussion of anything interesting that has a nerdy slant and strikes Robb’s fancy. Like any other radio show, it has gone through fine tuning and timeslot switches as it has grown, but two things have held steady throughout: the mission of getting these things to people who want to get them, and the man behind it all.
Robb Campau has been working with the station since 1999, and he has hosted The Jump Button since its conception. If you’ve tuned in, you know him as Robbwith2bees. Prior to his current hosting gig, he hosted The Music Show. Also produced for WHFR, it was a show about… well, music, and he played what he calls “sampler” music. When asked what his day job is, he gives a succinct description of a regular nine-to-five before the humor that makes him so good as a radio personality kicks in, and he amends his answer to say that he is a super-villain dogcatcher, nemesis of Krypto the Superdog.
Laughing in the background at Robb’s answer is his co-host of nearly one year and close friend, DJ Impostor. The running joke is that she’s an imposter because she rarely knows what’s being talked about on the show, and she’s the first to say it. She admits, “Sometimes I try to pretend I know what’s going on and it just blows up in my face.”
It’s true that a number of the jokes and references are lost on her, but this adds to the appeal. She serves as the comic foil to Robb’s antics, and the dry wit she employs in responding to jokes she does not get is as funny as the jokes themselves. When she does try to pretend she knows what’s going on and the backfiring occurs, it gets funnier. At one point, Robb references Mortal Kombat, and Impostor gamely tries to play along before he calls her on it by telling her to name one character from the series. Unable to make out the whispers of “Shao Khan” from the person beside her, she pauses for a beat before exclaiming, “Chaka Khan!”
The Jump Button is making a serious bid to be the most hilarious thing anyone has packed into four hours since Gone With the Wind, and that’s saying something. Every hour is kicked off with the “Top of the Hour Cover Power” song selection; this is usually either a very good cover of a very bad song or vice versa, depending on the mood of the disc jockeys.
From time to time, the show has hosted bracket competitions with off-beat themes, like the Fine-Feathered Frenzy bird bracket, fights-to-the-death between fictional robots and fictional dogs (separately, although we can keep our fingers crossed that they pick up a robots versus Rovers series of death matches after this article is released), and a Bracket Full of Brackets match-up to decide what the next theme would be.
A fixture of every broadcast is the Woos & Boos segment, wherein Robb lists upcoming releases in media to be judged by DJ Impostor and whoever happens to be in what is lovingly referred to as the show’s “peanut gallery.” The peanut gallery is comprised of Mr. Anderson—more a fixture than a visitor, he also hosts the Monday Miso show on WHFR from noon to 2 p.m.—and a number of guests that appear occasionally and contribute to the banter between the two regular hosts.
The banter is what really makes the show. It becomes evident when you tune in that Robb and Impostor have been friends for years; their repartee is well-worn and honed to a perfection that only comes with time. They joke with each other, and easily. Asked how DJ Imposter came to be the co-host of the show just short of a year ago, she jokes that she was forced into the job, and he is quick to run with it by co-signing, “She lost a bet.” No matter what they’d have you think, they have a mutual respect for each other, and Robb will not hesitate to state how happy he is to have her as a co-host. Impostor likewise has nothing but praise for him, calling Robb the brains behind the show, and expressing how much she admires his dedication.
“He puts a lot of effort into what he gets to his listeners. And he doesn’t just show up to do his show, he is a staple of WHFR,” she said (once he’s out of the room, of course).
This is a great show run by great people, so do yourself a favor and put it on your speakers, even if only while driving from party to party on your Saturday evening out. You’ll be doing yourself a favor. After all, where else are you going to hear a lyrical ode to G.I. Joe?